Wayne LaPierre, National Rifle Association CEO, testifies as supporters and opponents of stricter gun control measures face off at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday on Capitol Hill.

Written by

Bennett L. Gershman

No issue in American life elicits hysteria and paranoia as much as guns. Other big issues such as abortion, affirmative action, gay rights, and capital punishment evoke powerful emotions and strong rhetoric. But these issues do not provoke such extreme, hysterical, and revolutionary rhetoric as statements from the National Rifle Association and its leaders, who see any regulation of guns as a threat to freedom, and an incitement to insurrection.

Indeed, the biggest fomenter of hysteria and paranoia over guns, the biggest fear-mongerer and bully of all, is the NRA and its leaders. Why ...